Vona Hail Storm, May 17, 2026: What Homeowners Should Do Now
September 11, 2026
By Red Hawk Roofing
Updated September 23, 2026 with complete verified storm reports.
Vona took 1 National Weather Service hail report on May 17, 2026, the largest at 1.00 inches. Reports came in at 4:39 PM MDT.
The Vona hail map — May 17, 2026
Every hail report in Colorado
These are National Weather Service Local Storm Reports — hail an observer found on the ground, not a radar estimate. Times are MDT. “Measured” means the stone was physically measured; “reported” means a size category or description was relayed to the NWS — mPING and public descriptions are not measurements.
| Location | Size | Time | Source | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 SSE Vona | 1.00" | 4:39 PM | Trained Spotter | reported |
The single report in the table is from the Vona area. A hail report names the largest stone an observer found, not the average size that fell across every roof in the area.
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Why 1.00-inch hail matters to an asphalt roof
Damage scales hard with stone size. A one-inch stone falls at about 41 mph and lands with roughly 1.3 joules of energy. A 1.75 inch stone falls at about 65 mph and lands with roughly 16 joules — about thirteen times the impact. Denver-area elevation adds another 8 to 10 percent to fall speed.
Published impact studies put the onset of functional damage near 1.00 inch for three-tab asphalt shingles, 1.25 inches for architectural shingles, and 2.00 inches for Class 4 impact-rated products. The largest report named for Vona, which fell about 6.2 miles south of Vona, on unincorporated county land, was 1.00 inches, at or near the threshold for three-tab shingles.
The damage usually is not visible from the ground. Hail bruises the shingle — fracturing the mat beneath a surface that still looks intact — and the bruised area then sheds its protective granules over the following months. A roof hit in June can look fine all summer and start leaking by winter.
Radar-estimated hail is not measured hail
Radar hail algorithms output a deliberate high-end estimate of what may exist inside a storm cloud, not a measurement of what landed on your roof. Radar estimates characteristically run above what observers actually recover. Treat the shaded swath on the map as the search area and the ground reports as the confirmed observations. If a contractor tells you radar showed three-inch hail at your address, ask whether anyone measured it.
Over Vona itself, radar placed no estimated hail band of any size. The storm’s strongest radar-estimated core nearby reached the 1.75 inch band. Radar estimates and ground reports measure different things, so they routinely disagree; both are shown here rather than the more flattering one.
Radar estimate and ground reports by city — May 17, 2026
The map above is the search area. This table asks two narrower questions for each Colorado city in the storm footprint: did any NWS ground report come from inside the city’s actual boundary, whatever locality name the NWS filed it under; and did a radar-estimated hail band of 1.00 inch or larger cross that boundary? A ground report is an observation and always lists the city. The band is an MRMS estimate, not a measurement.
The report naming Vona (“7 SSE Vona”, 1.00 inch, reported) lies on unincorporated county land, inside no city limit, about 6.2 miles south of the Vona boundary, not inside the Vona city limits. Radar placed no estimated hail band of any size over Vona.
City boundaries are the U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line 2025 place limits; Denver neighborhoods use the City and County of Denver’s statistical neighborhood polygons. A city is listed if any NWS ground report came from inside that boundary, or if a 1.00 inch or larger radar band crosses it; a ground report is never left off for the size of the radar estimate.
Hail duration, warnings and wind
Radar duration analysis puts Vona under 1.50 inch or larger hail for at least 4 minutes. Duration matters as much as stone size — sustained impacts bruise a shingle mat in a way one large stone does not.
A Severe Thunderstorm Warning covering Vona was issued at 4:02 PM MDT by the National Weather Service. The warning called for hail to 1.50 inches and winds to 70 mph. In all, Vona sat under 2 separate warnings that day.
What to do if you were under it
- Check from the ground, not the roof. Walking a hail-struck roof is how people get hurt.
- Look in your gutters. Granules washing off in quantity is the most common early sign.
- Check soft metal. Roof vents, gutters, flashing, the mailbox, AC condenser fins. Dents in soft metal date the storm.
- Photograph what you find with your phone. Phone photos carry a timestamp. Do not edit them.
- Get it inspected. Especially if this storm was months ago — that is exactly when bruising starts to surface.
Frequently asked questions
Was there hail near Vona on May 17, 2026?
Yes. The National Weather Service logged 1 hail report in the Vona area on May 17, 2026, the largest at 1.00 inches. The report point plots about 6.2 miles south of Vona, on unincorporated county land, not inside the Vona limits.
How big was the hail near Vona?
The largest report was 1.00 inches. Bear in mind a hail report names the biggest stone an observer found, not what fell across the whole city.
What time did the hail fall near Vona?
Reports came in at 4:39 PM MDT.
Is it too late to check my Vona roof from this storm?
No. Hail bruising fractures the shingle mat beneath an intact-looking surface, then sheds granules over the following months. Damage from this storm is often only becoming visible later, which makes this a good time to look.
Does my neighbor's undamaged roof mean mine is fine?
No. Hail swaths are narrow and damage varies street by street. Roof age, shingle type and slope orientation all change the outcome on the same block.
How long did it hail in Vona on May 17, 2026?
Radar duration analysis puts Vona under 1.50 inch or larger hail for at least 4 minutes on May 17, 2026. That is a floor, not a total — the analysis reports how long the estimate stayed above that size, and hail below it fell for longer. Duration matters as much as stone size for roof damage: several minutes of sustained impacts bruises mats that a single large stone would only dent.
Was there a severe thunderstorm warning covering Vona on May 17, 2026?
A Severe Thunderstorm Warning covering Vona was issued at 4:02 PM MDT by the National Weather Service. The warning called for hail to 1.50 inches and winds to 70 mph. In all, Vona sat under 2 separate warnings that day. A warning means the National Weather Service saw storm structure capable of that damage on radar; it is issued ahead of the hail, not after it.
Red Hawk tracks every hail day across the Front Range. See our other storm reports for the rest of the 2026 season.
For the full statewide picture — every report, the radar swath map and the county-wide totals — see our Colorado Hail Storm Report for May 17, 2026.
Not sure what to look for? Start with what hail damage looks like on a roof and the Colorado hail claim guide.
Red Hawk works Colorado roofs year round. We'll still be here next season.
Schedule My Free Inspectionor call (720) 771-8921
Storm figures are National Weather Service Local Storm Reports for Colorado on May 17, 2026 (local time), retrieved from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet archive and de-duplicated. Radar swath analysis by ExoVzn, an independent forensic meteorology firm, using NOAA MRMS data. Impact-energy and damage-threshold figures are from published hail impact research. Storm reports indicate where hail occurred; only a physical inspection establishes whether a specific roof was damaged.